Gunther bornkamm biography

Jesus of Nazareth

Gunther Bornkamm, a pioneering German New Testament scholar, made significant contributions in the allied areas of form criticism and redaction criticism. As a young academic, he taught in the theological school at Bethel. In 1939 the Nazis shut the school down. After brief pastorates in Munster and Dortmund, Bornkamm joined the Germany army in 1943. Following World War II, he resumed his academic career, first at the University of Gottingen, and then (in 1949) at the University of Heidelberg, where he taught until his retirement. As a redaction critic, Bornkamm pressed upon biblical scholars the importance of reading the Gospels as entire works and grasping their theology. As he analyzed the Gospel of Matthew, he raised important form-criticism questions. In addition, he sought to grasp Matthew's distinctive theological perspective and intention. The resulting volume, Tradition and Interpretation in Matthew (1963), called attention to the actual structuring of the discourses of Jesus in Matthew that appeared to be driven by the evangelist's own perception

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Gunther Bornkamm, a pioneering German New Testament scholar, made significant contributions in the allied areas of form criticism and redaction criticism. As a young academic, he taught in the theological school at Bethel. In 1939 the Nazis shut the school down. After brief pastorates in Munster and Dortmund, Bornkamm joined the Germany army in 1943. Following World War II, he resumed his academic career, first at the University of Gottingen, and then (in 1949) at the University of Heidelberg, where he taught until his retirement. As a redaction critic, Bornkamm pressed upon biblical scholars the importance of reading the Gospels as entire works and grasping their theology. As he analyzed the Gospel of Matthew, he raised important form-criticism questions. In addition, he sought to grasp Matthew's distinctive theological perspective and intention. The resulting volume, Tradition and Interpretation in Matthew (1963), called attention to the actual structuring of the discourses of Jesus in Matthew that appeared to be driven by the evangelist's own perception of the churc

Jesus of Nazareth

December 20, 2012
More has been written about Jesus Christ in the last 50 years than has been written about Him in the past 1900 years combined. With all of these books, there are no doubt some that should be skipped entirely, those that can be, and those that are a must read. Which one is this?

Gunther Bornkamm's Jesus of Nazareth is by no means a 'must read.' This does not mean it is a bad book or one that shouldn't be read. Overall, it is a pretty good book with some good insights. But if you have your choice, stick with N.T. Wright's Jesus and the Victory of God or James Dunn's Remembering Jesus.

Bornkamm is an unapologetic critical scholar and we shouldn't expect anything less from Rudolph Bultmann's student. Bornkamm rightly assesses that we cannot, nor we should not attempt a 'biography' of Jesus Christ. But this does not mean that we cannot know anything about Jesus' life and ministry.

Bornkamm is a form critic and seeks to gain the historical knowledge behind the gospel text. As such, he abandons much in the way of traditional theology (again

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